SUNBURST, a monitoring and communication network covering the US and Canada to alert electric utilities to the onset and magnitude of a solar magnetic disturbance (SMD), is discussed. Experience with a system involving data collection and local storage of information from multiple points at a substation, which was developed and field tested as part of a study concerned with the measurement of magnetic fields (EPRI Project RP2942-1), is briefly summarized. The design of SUNBURST is described.<>